


The War Against Giygas is Over

by mOther3



Category: Mother 2: Gyiyg no Gyakushuu | EarthBound
Genre: Aggressive bittersweet fluff, Blood, Enemies to Friends, Gen, Not a happy ending this is the mother series, Unrequited ness/paula, enemies to friends to lovers if you squint really hard, referenced domestic abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-29
Updated: 2017-05-29
Packaged: 2018-11-06 14:11:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11037807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mOther3/pseuds/mOther3
Summary: Ness wants to know that everyone is okay after the fight is over. Even Pokey.





	The War Against Giygas is Over

**Author's Note:**

> I've been reading up on the Japanese version of EarthBound. It's quite a bit grittier. The Minch household is one of frequent abuse for the kids and I wanted to explore how Pokey would react to someone finally treating him with respect. He's not a bad guy, he just doesn't know what's right after being brought up in an abusive home. Ness knows that.

"The war against Giygas is over. Ness, can you hear me?" Poo's stiff, cold hands lifted his dazed friend up. It was hard to tell his condition based on his robotic body. His dull eyes flickered to life after a moment. 

"Is everyone okay..?" Ness' tinny voice broke the overwhelming silence. He wriggled from Poo's support to check his other friends. Jeff was okay—silent and still in reasonable shock. He muttered a faint "I'm fine" after a bit. Paula looked awful, she'd taken considerable damage and struggled to realize where she was when she finally came to. Poo used the remnants of his psionic energy to heal her to a comfortable state. 

"That's everyone, Ness. Doctor Andonuts said we would return to the present soon after the fight. Ness? Where are you going?" Poo spoke after his friend, who was hobbling back into the little crevice that lead them to the fight. He turned back, worry somehow crossing his robotic features,

"Where's Pokey?"

"What?"

"Where is he! Pokey!" 

The wreckage of his spidery robot weren't too far from the entrance of the strange area. He'd clearly tried to escape before being caught up in the fury of Giygas' attacks. Thinking about it made Ness' skin crawl with the memory of that empty voice calling his name.

A ring of shattered glass surrounded the vehicle, along with splatters of oil, coolant, and flecks of blood. If Pokey was still alive anywhere, he'd be trapped inside the wreckage.

"No... no no... Come on, Pokey, you gotta be here."

A squeaky, wheeze of a breath followed by a rough voice responded to him. 

"Gh.. H-help..." Pokey's chubby hand reached from under the rubble. It was pale blue, like he was cold or suffocating. He'd looked like that when he confronted them at the beginning of the fight too. Jeff's father warned about the side effects of time travel with an organic body. Pokey looked like he'd taken a beating from his travels, even just from seeing his hand up close.

Ness' metal hand met Pokey's and the trapped boy grabbed hold tight, struggling to pull himself free from the rubble.

"Ness. You idiot..." He hissed as his other arm came free. The torn remains of his black and red pinstripe suit hung off of it. Ness remained silent and took the other freed hand, unearthing his battered friend.

"Why are you doing this... That evil brute's army is gonna be here any minute. Go run off like you always do." His top lip sported a huge split, dribbling blood down his chin and onto his bow tie. 

"You're my friend."

"Feh! Friend!" Pokey spat a blob of bloody saliva at Ness' metal feet as he stood, "You've been bent on stopping me for so long, and now that it's over, I'm your _friend_ all of the sudden? I'd tell you to go to Hell, but we're already here!" Obvious tears welled in his eyes as he crossed his arms over his heaving torso. 

Ness spoke calmly, not letting go of Pokey's hands even though he tried to wrench them out of his grasp, "I tried to stop you _because_ you're my friend. I knew what you were doing would hurt you. Does that make sense?" 

Pokey's tears spilled over and he collapsed into Ness, who would've fallen over if he wasn't a robot. Ness helped him to kneel down, too exhausted and emotional to stay on his feet any longer. 

"H-how do you do it? I just don't understand..." The hate from Pokey's voice was gone now, "How can you be so merciful? Nice guys are supposed to finish last." Ness remembered Mrs. Minch say that after she'd struck Pokey because he'd been out too late looking for his brother. 

"It's just how I am." He replied simply, guiding Pokey's hand to wipe his tears. 

"I thought I could win by siding with them... I wanted people to listen to me for just once and M-Master Giygas said I'd get that..." His sharp breaths escalated to hacking coughs. 

"I'm listening. What do you want to say?" Ness replied softly. He was just met with more tears and an even closer hug. 

Feeling Pokey's quivering body safe in his arms after chasing him across the world brought an immense sense of relief. Even though he was blue and bloodied and surrounded the remains of some evil machine he'd used against him, Pokey was Ness' friend. 

"Even though you're dumb as rocks to stay here, I want to say thank you for finding me and telling me I'm your friend..." Pokey went quiet after that, relaxing into Ness' reassuring hug. 

Ness wanted to say more, but realized he couldn't. His body wasn't responding to his soul anymore. His very existence was leaving the robotic body it was inhabiting to return home. Pokey noticed as Ness' arms that held him close went limp.

"H-hey buddy, you okay?" His voice hung with dread again. 

Ness forced himself to speak, "Pokey. Be... Safe." He didn't want to abandon his friend like this: trapped hundreds of years in the past, targeted by an army of aliens he'd stabbed in the back by unleashing their Master's unhinged fury. 

"Ness! What's wrong?!" His fearful blue eyes were quick to overflow with tears as Ness' conscious left his body. 

His eyes flickered to darkness and the uninhabited chassis of the robot fell out of Pokey's trembling arms. 

"No! Y-you can't just..! Ness! You can't leave me here!" He was shouting now, lifting the robotic shell up and shaking it for some sign of life. Ness had left, bound for his real body far in the future. Through his calls for his friend, Pokey couldn't hear the approaching squad of Starmen, armed to the teeth and ready to inflict their revenge. 

\---

"He's waking up! Look!"

"Give him some space, Miss Polestar."

"I told you he'd be okay. Ness is strong."

"Ness! We were so worried..."

The light was blinding when he opened his eyes to squint up at his three companions. Paula kneeled down and pressed a kiss to his cheek. Poo nodded and Jeff offered a rare smile.

Ness balled his stiff hands into fists and sobbed.


End file.
